Adjustable waistband for pleated trousers



Oct. 2, 1951 1.. F. GRUE ADJUSTABLE WAISTBAND FOR PLEATED TROUSERS Filed June 14, 1949 INVENTORY. L 0245's I Grzze,

ATI'D RN EYS Patented Oct. 2, 1951 ADJUSTABLE WAISTBAND FOR PLEATED TROUSERS Louis F. Grue, Baltimore, Md.

Application June 14, 1949, Serial No. 98,907

1 Claim. 1

The present invention relates to improvements in trousers and in particular, to the pleated waist structure therefor.

One object of the invention is to provide a pair of trousers which is provided with elastic gussets in the Waist encircling portion thereof to retain the garment in place about the waist of the wearer and simultaneously retain the pleats in position, and prevent the same from opening or otherwise becoming disarranged.

Another object is to provide a pair of trousers having an improved waist construction, which in addition to holding the garment in place, will hold the front creases of the trousers in position such that the trousers will be neat in appearance and will hold their shape indefinitely.

Another object is to provide a pair of trousers of the above mentioned character which can be easily and cheaply manufactured which eliminates the expensive waist band structure now used in connection with conventional trousers.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following description of the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of a pair of trousers embodying the invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary front elevational view of the waist portion of the trousers showing an area broken away to illustrate the manner in which the gusset strap extends through a slot in one of the pleats of the trousers.

Figure 3 is a horizontal cross sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Figure 2 and looking in the direction of the arrows to illustrate various structural details and the manner in which the elastic inserts are arranged relative to the minor and major pleats on one side of the trousers.

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary front elevational view showing the major crease unfolded to illustrate the manner in which the webbing is stitched to the rear side thereof adjacent the free edge.

In the drawing, and more in detail, there is shown for the purpose of convenience of illustration a pair of trousers 5 having a waist portion 6 and leg portions 7. The waist portion 6 is formed with the usual fly opening 8, and the front portion of the trousers on both sides of the fly opening 8 are provided with major and minor reverse pleats 9 and It respectively.

The trousers are formed to provide the usual leg portions "i, and the lower ends are provided with cuffs i2 of conventional design. The pleats 5 and lil extend from the upper edge of the waist encircling portion of the trousers downwardly a sufiicient distance to provide fullness and comfort when the wearer assumes a bending position, and it is to be noted that the pleats are not stitched in the waist band area and also, that the trousers are not provided with a waist band as used in conventional trousers.

The pleat 9 is formed by folding the fabric 6 in the waist area on the line M (Fig. 4), and then reversely folding the material on the line l5, likewise Fig. 4. The line I5 formin the pleat edge 9 and the bent portion of the trousers is shown at M in Fig. 3.

The pleat I0 is similarly formed, with the exception that the fold portion of the pleat I0 is arranged reverse and in opposition to the pleat fold 9. The usual line of stitching l6 being provided over which the pleat is formed in a manner conventional to present-day pleated trousers, to give the proper shape to the waist portion in a well known manner.

Stitched to the rear portion of the trousers or to the inside adjacent the upper edge of the waist portion is an elastic strap [8 which is held in place by a row of stitching I9 and said elastic strap is secured between the outer fabric of the garment and the return bent upper edge 20 which is hemmed in place by a row of stitches 211.

As shown in Figure 2, a strip of fabric webbing 22 is passed through an opening 23 in the minor pleat l0, and is affixed to the yielding elastic band [8 as at 24 by means of a series of rows of stitches or other suitable fastening means. The free end of the fabric webbing 22 is passed through a strap loop 25 and is afiixed to the underside of the major pleat 9 by means of a series of stitches 26, between the folded edge 9 of the pleat and the reverse fold I 4 of the fabric as illustrated clearly in Figure 3. Thus, it will be seen that the major pleat 9 is yieldingly urged in the direction of the minor pleat In which will retain the major pleat in its reversely folded position to thereby perform the function of retaining the trousers crease in place and simultaneously yieldingly holding the trousers on the wearers Waist.

In order to prevent the pleat 9 from folding unduly a piece of elastic webbing 29 is secured to the waist portion of the trousers by means of stitching 34] adjacent the fold M of the pleat 9, and the opposite end of the elastic webbing is affixed to the fabric of the trousers adjacent the upper edge thereof by means of a row of stitches 3|. Thus, yielding pulls exerted by the fabric webbing 22 and elastic webbing IS on the pleat 9 will be exerted in such a manner as to retain the pleat 9 in place while expansion and contraction of the waist area of the trousers will be accommodated by the elastic Webbing 29.

In view of the above disclosure, it is belived that the invention will be readily understood, and a discussion of the operation would be unnecessary in view of the fact that the trousers are worn by the wearer substantially as shown without the use of belts, suspenders or other garment supporters. The belt loops 25 provide guides for the fabric Webbing 22 and enhance the appearance of the garment. They are not intended for the reception of a garment supporting belt; and the trousers are completely self-supporting.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred embodiment of the inven-' tion, and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope ofthe subjoined claim.

What 'I claim is: v

Ina pair of trousers having pleats on each side of the trousers fly opening formed by folding the fabricof 'said'trousers to provide reverse opposed pleats, one of said pleats being arranged to form the crease fold of the trousers legs, a strip of fabric stitched to the underside of said last named pleat adjacent the free fold edge thereof, a strap loop attached to the upper portion of the trousers for receiving said strip, said strip being passed through a vertical slot in an adjacent pleat to extend inwardly of the Waist portion of said trousers, an elastic webbing strip having one end attached to the end of said inwardly extending strip and its opposite end attached to the trousers and a second strip of elastic webbing affixed at one end to the inner surface of said trousers adjacent the upper edge thereof with its opposite end stitched to the other fold of the pleat forming the trousers crease line.

LOUIS F. GRUE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PA'IENTS Number Name Date 2,024,922 Hendel Dec; 1'7, 1935 2,140,221 Cornish l ee. 13, .938 

